Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi on January 29 suffered a major blow after the court declined to grant him Sh 10 million in damages for malicious arrest and subsequent detention.
The CS had on October 7, 2022, sued the director of public prosecution, the director of criminal investigations, the national cohesion and integration commission, and the attorney general for allegedly violating his constitutional rights.
This is after the prosecution failed to charge him upon the conclusion of investigations within the two months that had been granted by the court.
“There was no concrete evidence in support of prayer no. (c) of the Petition.
I will therefore not grant the same,” Justice Heston Nyaga ruled.
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The Nakuru High Court judge further declined to bar the state from further investigations and pursuing criminal charges against Linturi.
“In light of the above precedents, I do not find any basis for prohibiting the Respondents through the 2nd respondent from pressing criminal charges in Nakuru Criminal Misc.
Application No. E10 of 2022 or any subsequent proceedings premised on the impugned arrest and investigations against the petitioner.”
Linturi then Meru senator had been arrested on January 8, 2022, following remarks he had made earlier in the day while addressing a public rally organized by the United Democratic Alliance Party (UDA) at Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County.
“Niwaambie nyinyi msituchezee, watu wa Uasin Gishu msichezee kenya.
Na kile nawaomba ni kwamba madoadoa yale mlio nayo hapa muweze kuondoa.
Muweze kufanya nini? Hatuwezi kuwa tunasimama na William tukiwa kule Mt. Kenya na Meru alafu mko na wengine hapa hawaskii na hawaungani naye.
Mko tayari kutuondolea hao? Mko tayari?”
Loosely translated to “Let me tell you, people of Uasin Gishu don’t play with Kenya. What I ask is that you remove the stains you have.
We can’t support William in Mt. Kenya and Meru while others here don’t feel or align with him.”
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission interpreted it as having been calculated to be hateful and likely to affect harmonious coexistence between the Kalenjin and other communities.
It is the CS case that on or about 2.00 am on January 9, 2022, armed DCI Detectives stormed the EKA Hotel in Eldoret town where he had spent the night and arrested him.
They drove him to Kaptembwa Police Station in Nakuru where he only signed a visitor’s book after which he was driven at the same speed to Naivasha Police Station and finally to Gigiri Police Station in Nairobi County.
At around 4.30 pm January 9, 2022, he was interrogated by the DCI detectives attached to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and he recorded a statement on inquiry where he confirmed that the impugned utterances were made innocently with no intention of inciting or causing ethnic contempt.
On the same day, he was driven back to Nakuru County where he arrived at midnight and was detained at Kaptembwa Police Station until January 10, 2022, when he was arraigned.
The DCI through a miscellaneous application sought to detain him for a further seven days pending investigations
However, on January 11, 2022, the Magistrate declined the police applications and released him on a conditional bond of Sh5 million or an alternative cash bail of Sh2 million.
The court restricted Linturi from making any comments on the case through the media and social media platform
He was also ordered to appear at the DCI headquarters every Friday at noon.
In compliance with the said order he appeared twice at the DCI headquarters but to his utter shock and dismay there had been no meaningful engagement with the investigating agency save for the DCI keeping him at the waiting bay for hours till close of business.
Since the time of his release, no summons has been issued or given to him requiring him to respond to any inquiries by the 1st,2nd, and 3rd respondents.
When the matter came up for further mention on February 28, 2022, the state withdrew the miscellaneous criminal file against him as they had not gathered any credible evidence to prefer any criminal charges against him and accordingly, he was released and the file closed.
As a result, Linturi moved to the court seeking damages due to inhuman arrest, false detention, and fabricated charges by the state.
He alleged that the actions were intended to humiliate him, suppress his rights, and cause economic harm.
He argued that the charges were politically motivated, abusing state power to intimidate and oppress him, violating his constitutional rights, and causing irreparable prejudice.
However the state in their response dated November 2, 2022, refuted Linturi’s claims, asserting that they acted within the confines of the law.
They argued that any arrests and charges brought against the petitioner were based on legitimate grounds, proper investigations, and reasonable cause.
The state contended that the cabinet secretary failed to establish a cause of action, deeming the petition baseless and an abuse of the court process.
They requested the court to dismiss the petition with costs.
Justice Heston Nyaga dismissed the petition in its entirety after finding it was without merit.
Consequently ordered cost to the director of criminal investigations and the attorney general.
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